1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the field of orthodontics and, more particularly, to computer-automated development of an orthodontic treatment plan and appliance.
Repositioning teeth for aesthetic or other reasons is accomplished conventionally by wearing what are commonly referred to as “braces.” Braces comprise a variety of appliances such as brackets, archwires, ligatures, and O-rings. Attaching the appliances to a patient's teeth is a tedious and time consuming enterprise requiring many meetings with the treating orthodontist. Consequently, conventional orthodontic treatment limits an orthodontist's patient capacity and makes orthodontic treatment quite expensive.
Before fastening braces to a patient's teeth, at least one appointment is typically scheduled with the orthodontist, dentist, and/or X-ray laboratory so that X-rays and photographs of the patient's teeth and jaw structure can be taken. Also during this preliminary meeting, or possibly at a later meeting, an alginate mold of the patient's teeth is typically made. This mold provides a model of the patient's teeth that the orthodontist uses in conjunction with the X-rays and photographs to formulate a treatment strategy. The orthodontist then typically schedules one or more appointments during which braces will be attached to the patient's teeth.
At the meeting during which braces are first attached, the teeth surfaces are initially treated with a weak acid. The acid optimizes the adhesion properties of the teeth surfaces for brackets and bands that are to be bonded to them. The brackets and bands serve as anchors for other appliances to be added later. After the acid step, the brackets and bands are cemented to the patient's teeth using a suitable bonding material. No force-inducing appliances are added until the cement is set. For this reason, it is common for the orthodontist to schedule a later appointment to ensure that the brackets and bands are well bonded to the teeth.
The primary force-inducing appliance in a conventional set of braces is the archwire. The archwire is resilient and is attached to the brackets by way of slots in the brackets. The archwire links the brackets together and exerts forces on them to move the teeth over time. Twisted wires or elastomeric O-rings are commonly used to reinforce attachment of the archwire to the brackets. Attachment of the archwire to the brackets is known in the art of orthodontia as “ligation” and wires used in this procedure are called “ligatures.” The elastomeric O-rings are called “plastics.”
After the archwire is in place, periodic meetings with the orthodontist are required, during which the patient's braces will be adjusted by installing a different archwire having different force-inducing properties or by replacing or tightening existing ligatures. Typically, these meetings are scheduled every three to six weeks.
As the above illustrates, the use of conventional braces is a tedious and time consuming process and requires many visits to the orthodontist's office. Moreover, from the patient's perspective, the use of braces is unsightly, uncomfortable, presents a risk of infection, and makes brushing, flossing, and other dental hygiene procedures difficult.
For these reasons, it would be desirable to provide alternative methods and systems for repositioning teeth. Such methods and systems should be economical, and in particular should reduce the amount of time required by the orthodontist in planning and overseeing each individual patient. The methods and systems should also be more acceptable to the patient, in particular being less visible, less uncomfortable, less prone to infection, and more compatible with daily dental hygiene. At least some of these objectives will be met by the methods and systems of the present invention described hereinafter.
2. Description of the Background Art
Tooth positioners for finishing orthodontic treatment are described by Kesling in the Am. J. Orthod. Oral. Surg. 31:297-304 (1945) and 32:285-293 (1946). The use of silicone positioners for the comprehensive orthodontic realignment of a patient's teeth is described in Warunek et al. (1989) J. Clin. Orthod. 23:694-700. Clear plastic retainers for finishing and maintaining tooth positions are commercially available from Raintree Essix, Inc., New Orleans, La. 70125, and Tru-Tain Plastics, Rochester, Minn. 55902. The manufacture of orthodontic positioners is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,186,623; 5,059,118; 5,055,039; 5,035,613; 4,856,991; 4,798,534; and 4,755,139.
Other publications describing the fabrication and use of dental positioners include Kleemann and Janssen (1996) J. Clin. Orthodon. 30:673-680; Cureton (1996) J. Clin. Orthodon. 30:390-395; Chiappone (1980) J. Clin. Orthodon. 14:121-133; Shilliday (1971) Am. J. Orthodontics 59:596-599; Wells (1970) Am. J. Orthodontics 58:351-366; and Cottingham (1969) Am. J. Orthodontics 55:23-31.
Kuroda et al. (1996) Am. J. Orthodontics 110:365-369 describes a method for laser scanning a plaster dental cast to produce a digital image of the cast. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,459.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,533,895; 5,474,448; 5,454,717; 5,447,432; 5,431,562; 5,395,238; 5,368,478; and 5,139,419, assigned to Oinico Corporation, describe methods for manipulating digital images of teeth for designing orthodontic appliances.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,405 describes a method for digitally imaging a tooth and determining optimum bracket positioning for orthodontic treatment. Laser scanning of a molded tooth to produce a three-dimensional model is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,338,198. U.S. Pat. No. 5,452,219 describes a method for laser scanning a tooth model and milling a tooth mold. Digital computer manipulation of tooth contours is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,607,305 and 5,587,912. Computerized digital imaging of the jaw is described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,342,202 and 5,340,309. Other patents of interest include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,549,476; 5,382,164; 5,273,429; 4,936,862; 3,860,803; 3,660,900; 5,645,421; 5,055,039; 4,798,534; 4,856,991; 5,035,613; 5,059,118; 5,186,623; and 4,755,139.